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> there is already a double-digit premium Facebook must pay for talent That's an odd way of putting it. Do Google and Netflix and other big tech companies face

> there is already a double-digit premium Facebook must pay for talent That's an odd way of putting it. Do Google and Netflix and other big tech companies face the same "headwinds"? Their compensation is comparable. Facebook pays a premium because it's drawing from the top of the talent pool and is facing competition from other companies trying to acquire people with the same level of exceptional skill. The idea that FB has to pay extra to convince regular people to work at FB because FB has a bad reputation is HN fantasy. The world doesn't work that way. No, Facebook is not a stain on anyone's resume no matter how fervently a few very online activist types might want it to be. The rest of the industry laughs at the idea. Anyone saying that he won't fire FB alumni just has a bad case of sour grapes and couldn't attract people of that caliber anyway.

cbtacy 5y ago
This may be true for entry level jobs, but for senior level jobs the "stain on the resume" issue is very real. A friend was a recruiter for FB until a few months back and has repeatedly stated that over the last 18 months she had an increasingly large percentage of targeted senior candidates refuse to even take her calls.
- quotemstr 5y ago
  Lots of recruiters are having trouble. You haven't demonstrated that anti-FB sentiment makes it harder for ex-FB people to get hired.
  - disgruntledphd2 5y ago
    And generally, sourcers at Big tech are contract employees until they get enough talent through the door to go full time. So it may be that this person was unable to do this, and is putting some of the blame on FB's reputation (but it could also be true, I have no inside information).
- hirako2000 5y ago
  The same taint would apply after working at Google or Apple or even Barclays banks or MIT. Who wants to go through a 3 interview process just to find out that great candidate simply won't sign until the offer is bumped at least 3x
  - lordnacho 5y ago
    Anecdotal but a fair number of devs I know would be fine with those names, not FB. Facebook is both evil and trivial by reputation. You can do unimportant work that makes the world worse there, so why not compromise and work for some firm that's evil but important, or good but trivial? They'd use the interview for practice and free food. Having said that, I'm not sure you can really tell in the stats that FB needs to pay more for similar talent? Not sure how MIT comes into it though, isn't that a university?
    - hirako2000 5y ago
      I was trying to explain the determinant factors. I say MIT, because of it's tech prestige. I could have said Harvard for lawyers. Would you hire a paralegal coming from a prestiguous school to fill an average position ? Maybe, but for many it's not worth the time trying to catch a fish that won't fit on the boat.
- xemdetia 5y ago
  I would also suggest as someone on the other end is that they have been very aggressive trying to get people during the pandemic. The recruiter name changes every few months but you get multiple calls and so on, moreso than others I've been engaged with.
  - gorbachev 5y ago
    Seeing exactly the same...recruiter after recruiter from FB go through the same dance. I don't know why they keep doing this given I never respond.
    - AaronM 5y ago
      I told the recruiter at the start of the pandemic in no uncertain terms that I would never work for facebook or any company owned by them, and to not contact me again. I haven't received another request since.
      - finfinfin 5y ago
        I also told a recruiter that FB would be the last company I would ever work for - about 3 years ago. They stopped. Then about 2-3 months ago they renewed their attempts. I am guessing someone I know got hired and gave them my contact details again.
- moneywoes 5y ago
  Amazon?
ferdowsi 5y ago
Not sure why you think this. I work for a major organization and we have made sure to pay close attention to the outcomes of behavioral interviews when we evaluate candidates from Facebook, as we do from other organization with major reputational/ethical stains. Colleagues I speak to are increasingly doing this as well.
- quotemstr 5y ago
  So you don't pay attention to behavioral interviews from companies you like? What do you think FB alumni would say during one of these interviews? "Yeah, my favorite off-site was that time we ritually sacrificed infants to the flaming icon of Moloch. Lots of fun and smelled great! Does your company do off-sites?" Have you ever actually interviewed someone from FB? Or is all this about just filtering candidates for people who match your personal political views about, say, the role of advertising in society?
mint2 5y ago
It’s not anecdotally false that FB’s reputation and contribution to society is turning off some workers from applying. My price premium to work at Facebook would be very high and I wouldn’t feel good about the deal. Sure not everyone feels that way but there is talent that they have alienated with their long history.
Karrot_Kream 5y ago
I definitely don't judge an ex-FB applicant for our company for being from FB because there's many reasons someone would want to work there, so I understand, and I'm not willing to play this game of ethics of judging others based on their company names (because I think the world is a very complicated place). That said, I wouldn't want to work at FB unless I had a significant pay bump, and I'm used to other FAANG offers so make of that what you will. I do think FB will start trying harder to hire. Moreover, how many young engineers do you really think want to work at a company that is constantly under threat of litigation? If I were on an H1B, then threat of litigation is very real threat of my visa being invalidated. People who think FB looks bad on a resume are letting their personal beliefs cloud their view of the world, but conversely people who believe that a company under constant threat of litigation will not have retention issues are equally clouded by their personal beliefs.
int_19h 5y ago
I can't speak for others, but I can tell you that I have been contacted by FB recruiters more than once, and turned them down every time precisely because of their reputation (and made it very clear to them, as well). I would certainly consider it a stain on my resume at this point.

cbtacy 5y ago

This may be true for entry level jobs, but for senior level jobs the "stain on the resume" issue is very real. A friend was a recruiter for FB until a few months back and has repeatedly stated that over the last 18 months she had an increasingly large percentage of targeted senior candidates refuse to even take her calls.

quotemstr 5y ago
Lots of recruiters are having trouble. You haven't demonstrated that anti-FB sentiment makes it harder for ex-FB people to get hired.
- disgruntledphd2 5y ago
  And generally, sourcers at Big tech are contract employees until they get enough talent through the door to go full time. So it may be that this person was unable to do this, and is putting some of the blame on FB's reputation (but it could also be true, I have no inside information).
hirako2000 5y ago
The same taint would apply after working at Google or Apple or even Barclays banks or MIT. Who wants to go through a 3 interview process just to find out that great candidate simply won't sign until the offer is bumped at least 3x
- lordnacho 5y ago
  Anecdotal but a fair number of devs I know would be fine with those names, not FB. Facebook is both evil and trivial by reputation. You can do unimportant work that makes the world worse there, so why not compromise and work for some firm that's evil but important, or good but trivial? They'd use the interview for practice and free food. Having said that, I'm not sure you can really tell in the stats that FB needs to pay more for similar talent? Not sure how MIT comes into it though, isn't that a university?
  - hirako2000 5y ago
    I was trying to explain the determinant factors. I say MIT, because of it's tech prestige. I could have said Harvard for lawyers. Would you hire a paralegal coming from a prestiguous school to fill an average position ? Maybe, but for many it's not worth the time trying to catch a fish that won't fit on the boat.
xemdetia 5y ago
I would also suggest as someone on the other end is that they have been very aggressive trying to get people during the pandemic. The recruiter name changes every few months but you get multiple calls and so on, moreso than others I've been engaged with.
- gorbachev 5y ago
  Seeing exactly the same...recruiter after recruiter from FB go through the same dance. I don't know why they keep doing this given I never respond.
  - AaronM 5y ago
    I told the recruiter at the start of the pandemic in no uncertain terms that I would never work for facebook or any company owned by them, and to not contact me again. I haven't received another request since.
    - finfinfin 5y ago
      I also told a recruiter that FB would be the last company I would ever work for - about 3 years ago. They stopped. Then about 2-3 months ago they renewed their attempts. I am guessing someone I know got hired and gave them my contact details again.
moneywoes 5y ago
Amazon?

ferdowsi 5y ago

Not sure why you think this. I work for a major organization and we have made sure to pay close attention to the outcomes of behavioral interviews when we evaluate candidates from Facebook, as we do from other organization with major reputational/ethical stains. Colleagues I speak to are increasingly doing this as well.

quotemstr 5y ago
So you don't pay attention to behavioral interviews from companies you like? What do you think FB alumni would say during one of these interviews? "Yeah, my favorite off-site was that time we ritually sacrificed infants to the flaming icon of Moloch. Lots of fun and smelled great! Does your company do off-sites?" Have you ever actually interviewed someone from FB? Or is all this about just filtering candidates for people who match your personal political views about, say, the role of advertising in society?

mint2 5y ago

It’s not anecdotally false that FB’s reputation and contribution to society is turning off some workers from applying. My price premium to work at Facebook would be very high and I wouldn’t feel good about the deal. Sure not everyone feels that way but there is talent that they have alienated with their long history.

Karrot_Kream 5y ago

I definitely don't judge an ex-FB applicant for our company for being from FB because there's many reasons someone would want to work there, so I understand, and I'm not willing to play this game of ethics of judging others based on their company names (because I think the world is a very complicated place). That said, I wouldn't want to work at FB unless I had a significant pay bump, and I'm used to other FAANG offers so make of that what you will. I do think FB will start trying harder to hire. Moreover, how many young engineers do you really think want to work at a company that is constantly under threat of litigation? If I were on an H1B, then threat of litigation is very real threat of my visa being invalidated. People who think FB looks bad on a resume are letting their personal beliefs cloud their view of the world, but conversely people who believe that a company under constant threat of litigation will not have retention issues are equally clouded by their personal beliefs.

int_19h 5y ago

I can't speak for others, but I can tell you that I have been contacted by FB recruiters more than once, and turned them down every time precisely because of their reputation (and made it very clear to them, as well). I would certainly consider it a stain on my resume at this point.